Ventilation Error Cited in Tunnel Fire

A ventilation duct switched to the wrong position fed a deadly March 24 fire in the Mont Blanc tunnel, according to a report by French and Italian investigators. An Italian tunnel worker saw cars suddenly turning back and passengers getting out of cars and decided to send oxygen into the tunnel instead of filtering out smoke, the report said. Security procedures requiring the immediate extraction of smoke in case of fire “were not applied,” the report said. The blaze broke out on a truck, trapping dozens of cars in the tunnel that links France and Italy. The report put the death toll at 39.